A widely used type of slide switch comprises a housing containing a slide member having the movable switch contacts thereon and having the fixed contacts contained within the housing. Conductive mounting posts extend from the housing and are soldered to conductors which are to be switched on the circuit board. While switches of this general type are capable of satisfactory performance they are relatively complex and constitute, in many cases, an inordinately expensive component of the devices in which they are used. Moreover, circuit board slide switches are customarily produced as loose piece items and are assembled to circuit boards either manually or by means of relatively complex assembly equipment.
The present invention is directed to the achievement of an improved slide switch intended for circuit board use having a substantially reduced number of component parts, and having contacts thereon which are directly engageable with terminal pads on the circuit board. Assembly of the switch to the circuit board does not require soldering, but rather can be achieved by mechanical clinching of mounting feet integral with the switch housing. The invention is further directed to the achievement of a slide switch which can be produced in strip form, that is, with each switch integral with a continuous carrier strip so that individual switches can be assembled to the circuit boards by automatic assembly machines.
A preferred form of switch in accordance with the invention comprises a generally channel-shaped sheet metal switch housing and a slide member captured between the internal sidewalls of the housing. The slide member is retained in the housing by means of detent spring arms struck from the housing sidewalls and extending inwardly past shoulder surfaces on the sides of the slide member. The detent spring arms have free ends which are received in spaced-apart recesses in the sides of the slide member to provide a detent effect for the slide relative to the housing. The housings are produced as a continuous strip comprising a carrier strip having the housings extending laterally therefrom at spaced-apart intervals. The slide members and contact members, which are mounted on the outwardly facing surface of each slide member, can be assembled automatically to the housings as the housing strip is fed through assembling machines. The finished strip of assembled switches can then be fed to an assembly machine and the switches individually severed from the strip and assembled to circuit boards.